Office of Special Prosecutor: 1 lawyer, 1 case filed after 1 year

Office of Special Prosecutor: 1 lawyer, 1 case filed after 1 year

The Special Prosecutor has filed one case in court; 24 others are being investigated by his office which is the President’s promised solution to political graft.

JoyNews search into the work of the office shows there are 25 cases piquing the interest of Martin Amidu, a man with a public record for chasing after ill-gotten funds while a lackadaisical state pussyfoots.

The Special Prosecutor is allowed to seize the initiative by investigating political corruption or receive petitions from citizens. Martin Amidu does both.

His case lists is a mixed bag of suspects of New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) party colours. And it is a fearless mix.

Former President John Mahama who is seeking to be president again, is being sought-after by the Special Prosecutor.

Mahama is named as a respondent a case of alleged diversion of $13m from the E.O Group, a company with a 3.5% interest in Ghana’s 2007 oil find. A claim the former President has rubbished. The allegation was made by Martin Amidu in December 2016 during his days of writing articles that became a source of media stories and political debates.

Four citizens have referred to this article in their petition to him in June 2018, asking Martin Amidu to investigate what he wrote in 2016.

There is also a case of money-laundering against former Gender and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur. And another case against another Mahama, (Mahama Ayariga), a former Minister of Information, who is accused of evading tax in the importation of some vehicles.

The governing party’s chairman, Freddie Blay, praised for his role in getting the NPP back to power, is also a subject of interest for the Special Prosecutor after partially fulfilling an expensive promise to get each of the 275 constituencies a mini-bus.

The $11m promise appealed to delegates and got him re-elected. But it set tongues wagging with accusations of vote-buying and questions about how the GNPC Board chairman could pull off such a deal that included funding from some banks.

Former Chief Executive of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) Alfred Obeng Boateng who has been fingered in the decision to sell 1.8m barrels of crude oil at a discounted price which allegedly cost the nation 30m cedis in revenue is also of interest.

And there is the case against the wife of Assin Central NPP MP and tough-talker Kennedy Agyapong who is a beneficiary of a $100 million sole-sourced contract.

The case filed in court involves Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga and the procurement of ambulances.

No lawyers have been recruited yet, a human resource crisis that underlines the office’s slow pace of work and fast-growing public criticism.

Take IMANI Vice-President Kofi Bentil who is frustrated that the BOST petition to the Special Prosecutor in March 2018 is still unresolved after 14 months.

“It is not difficult for an investigation even within a year to determine all the facts …to come to a certain conclusion”, he was reported as saying on JoyNews programme Newsfile.

And Kofi Bentil is not alone. The Dean of Studies and Research at the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr Oduro Osae, waiving his option to be measured, stated categorically, “the Special Prosecutor has failed us.”

Months after the March 1, 2018 swearing in of Martin Amidu, they feel he has not been on the march.

But one person not shocked by the rate of work by the Special Prosecutor is NDC General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia. As Ghanaians entered the new year in 2019, he declared his ‘prophesy’ had come to pass.

That one year after Martin Amidu was appointed, he would come under criticism for ‘doing nothing’.

While Martin Amidu seeks to file more cases. There is one case against him at the Supreme Court where the 66-year old lawyer is branded as unfit for office as he is past the statutory retirement age of 60.

Ban on fishing: Government lying to us – Fishermen wail

Ban on fishing: Government lying to us – Fishermen wail

Some canoe owners and fishermen in Cape Coast in the Central Region have accused government officials of owning Chinese fishing vessels used for inappropriate fishing on the coastal sea and lying to them on the ban on fishing.

The practice according to the fishermen, this has contributed to the excessive harvesting of fish posing danger to the fishing industry in the area.

In an exclusive interview with MyNewsGh.com, the fisher folks said despite government’s one month ban on fishing, some Chinese fishing vessels are still in the business of fishing.

They further called for a ban on the use of Chinese fishing vessels on the sea.

Government has imposed a one month ban on all fishing activities in the country with effect from May 15 to June 15, 2019.

The closed season is meant for all fleet comprising of canoes, inshore boats and trawlers, revealing that there is no truth in government’s explanation of measures put in place to increase fish stock.

They also accused the government of compromising some stakeholders and chief fishermen along the coastal areas to agree to observe the closed season.

According to the aggrieved fishermen, the increment of outboard motors and premix fuel as well as ban on fishing has collapsed the fishing industry and called on the government to do everything possible to revive the fishing industry as soon as possible.

Parliament to haul Gender, Interior Ministers over 3 missing girls

Parliament to haul Gender, Interior Ministers over 3 missing girls

The Chairman of Parliament’s Gender, Children and Social Protection has said the Gender and Interior Ministers will be hauled to brief the nation on the status of the three missing Takoradi girls, when House resumes.

Dr. Kojo Appiah Kubi is hopeful the nation will be given a good briefing by the Gender Minister, Cynthia Morrison, especially the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery.

”They superintend the operations of the Ghana Police Service and should be able to speak to the issue,” he told Raymond Acquah on news discussion show, Upfront on Thursday.

The Gender Minister in January this year spoke of strong indications that the girls -Ruth Quayson, Priscilla Blessing Bentum and Priscilla Koranchie- who are reported missing between August 2018 and January 2019, are still in Ghana.

She said although human trafficking has not been ruled out in the disappearance of the girls, there is a strong likelihood that the Nigerian kidnap syndicate believed to be keeping them, has not taken them out of the country.

A lot has happened since then so Dr Appiah Kube wants the two Ministers to update the nation.

Police CID boss gaffe

The Gender, Children and Social Protection committee chair wants the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to focus on finding the missing Takoradi girls.

Dr. Kojo Appiah Kubi says communication from the police on the matter has so far not been impressive causing families to be worried amidst calls for the CID boss to step aside.

“Certain things have happened in the matter regarding the involvement of the police being in the public domain, with press conferences that they have held, which did not augur well for the image of the Police Service.

“Certain statements were made which were not very good which shouldn’t have been made…the police should be acting more than talking,” he said.

The police have over the past months been engaged in a frantic search for the girls with other parts of the country similarly hit by kidnappings and abductions.

The main suspect in the kidnapping, Samuel Udoetuk-Wills is currently serving an 18-month jail term after he was found guilty by the Takoradi Hugh Court for escaping from lawful custody in December 2018, following his first arrest.

Then, families of the missing girls questioned why the police failed to disclose the information to them before going public.

The Attorney-General, Gloria Akuffo, criticised the action saying it was wrong for the investigating authorities to have disclosed information about the whereabouts of the three missing girls.

That information, which was put in the public domain by the CID boss she said, could put the lives of the girls in danger.

Weeks later, under-pressure Maame Tiwaa beat a retreat saying she was misunderstood when she announced three kidnapped girls had been located.

She told Accra-based Atinka TV, she ‘wanted to give the families hope’ by that announcement.

The Commissioner of Police has been criticised not only by her former boss Bright Oduro but many other people with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) giving her a 14-day ultimatum to find the girls or step down.

The MP for Atwima Kwawoma constituency in the Ashanti Region said it is not out of place for people to demand the head of the Maame Tiwaa.

“It is their right to demand that. My advice will be for us to be circumspect and wait a little bit,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has urged the public to rather volunteer information to assist the police find the kidnapped girls rather than make calls for the CID boss to step aside.

NPP elects regional executives for new regions today

NPP elects regional executives for new regions today

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is today holding elections in all six newly created regions to select regional executives for the party.

The decision to elect new officers for the new regions including North East, Ahafo, Bono East, Western North, Oti and Savannah, was decided on during the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, at their headquarters.

The party has said that all the necessary preparations had been made for the elections currently ongoing in the respective areas.

Speaking to Citi News ahead of the elections, the Deputy New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary, Nana Obiri Boahen said the party machinery is battle ready to carry out a successful process.

“We are battle ready as a political party, all the national representatives have arrived at the various centers. You’ll see all the posters, everything flying around, last minute campaigning going on, so that is the summary of what is happening and the bottom line is that, we are battle ready.

Nominations for the polls opened on Tuesday, April 23, and closed on Friday, April 26, from the respective Regional Elections Committees.

Applicants seeking the regional executive positions paid a non-refundable nomination fee of GHC1,000.00 for the Chairperson position and GHC500.00 for other positions.

Vetting for the regional conferences took place from April 29 to 30, and vetting report presented on Thursday, May 2 after which the qualified candidates were cleared to contest in today’s elections.